dinlauren

I think originally it was to press to the side when quilting because they were all hand pieced and needed the extra support of the seam folded over the stitching. Now, since most of us machine stitch, it shouldn't matter so much. Garments are pressed open and think of all the wear an underarm or side seam gets on a shirt and it doesn't tear apart. I still press to the side though unless I'm doing something that has tons of joint seams and too much bulk, then i will press open. I hope this helps. Happy sewing.

Thusnelda

Pressing open is fine as long as you quilt over the whole quilt top. When you simply stitch in the ditch I would always press seams to the side. Otherwise you only quilt inbetween your pieces of fabric, joining the seams to the batting and backing but not the actual top.

Ahem, do you understand what I mean?

jenniferlrn

I know for me I always press my seams to the darker side of the pattern. But when I put paper pieced blocks together that have a bunch of seams all at the same intersection then I press the seam open. I guess it really depends on the project. Case in point, I made this one block and it had a bunch of seams in the intersections and I tried to get the dumb thing to press flat but without success, so I took them out and pressed the seams open and then twisted the center seams and presto! A flat block. So in answer to your question I guess it completely depends on your block or quilt. I would also probably talk to your long armer and see if she or he prefers the seams pressed open or to the dark. Hope that helps.
Jennifer

majormom

I guess this question will go round and round as long as there at least two quilters left to discuss it! I've always pressed to the side ('always' being relative as I have not been quilting many many years like many of you), simply because all of my books told me to, but I have always hated the bulkiness of this method. And the question of 'seeing a dark shadow of the seam through the quilt top confuses me. If you have a black piece of fabric and a white piece, and you sew them together and then press the seam open the white seam allowance goes to the white 'side' and the black seam allowance goes to the black 'side'. What's to see!? It can't get any better than that. So, I think I am going to switch from pressing to the side to pressing open, because I like smooth, flat seams. At times when trying to press to the dark side, I have ended up with the situation of having to sew through 4 layers of fabric. That's when I 'rebelled' and 'disobeyed' the rule and turned one allowance the 'wrong' way :mrgreen: That situation will not happen again, I'm will be pressing open

Janette

I will use both in a quilt. I look at how I will quilt it. Stitching in the ditch doesn't work well if you press your seams open but open seams work better if you are going to lay a pattern on top of them.

gramquilter2

Someone posted a while back that pressing to the side was done when quilters were doing the piecing by hand and that pressing to the side did not cause the stitches to break.

I since have been pressing open and like how it looks and sews. It is easier to embellish with not so much bulk on one side.

mar32428

Me too. I don't like the bulk. However, that said, there are times when I have to press to the dark side. I usually do what will eliminate the bulk where several seams are joined.

Glassquilt

Quilt University has a page called Pressing Tips
http://www.quiltuniversity.com/pressing_tips.htm

I press to the side and 'swirl' the seams at the intersections. That can lead to some problems if not planned in advance so I press one seam to the 'left' & the other to the 'right'. Worse come to worse I will change the side that the seams lies on in the middle between the crossing seams.

When I hand stitch-in-the-ditch the needle easily goes to the side & through the single layer of fabric. I don't even attempt to quilt in the swirl.

gramarraine

I am working on a BOM from the LQS and the instructions are to press part of the seams open and to the side for others. If I am making a star or a block with many seams together they seem to lay better if they are open than they do being pressed to the side. I think it is personal preference.

EagarBeez

I had been pressing seams open, it's a long process, can't tell you how many times the hot iron and my hands and fingers touched the iron. I now press to the dark side, except where there are a few pieces being joined those I press open or take a mallet to them